I bought plants at the Cheney Mansion today. Did you?

Today at the Cheney Mansion Plant Sale, I bought a Melrose pepper plant, a cayenne pepper plant, a Tom Thumb tomato plant, Manzano tomatoes, creeping thyme, a Black Beauty eggplant, kale plants, and a strawberry plant. Because I have limited space, most of these are going in containers. We’ll see how this turns out. The kale may get huge, so that’s going in the ground.

I’m also trying out a grape plant near the deck where I can use the lattice work as a trellis, and the blackberry plant that is also near the deck looks like it’s going to bear lots of fruit this year. It wasn’t supposed to bear any before the second year, but it did produce two or three blackberries last year. This year, it’s exploding with new growth and I can see the beginnings of fruit already. If I get enough, I would love to make some kind of preserves with blackberries in addition to eating them straight off the vines.

I’ve got some zukes and squash in Earth Boxes next to the tomato Earth Box. The potatoes I’m growing in a garbage can made an appearance above the soil line as well. Just a few more inches and I’ll need to add more soil.

There’s been a change in how I view gardening and the available space outside. I’m thinking more about how I can utilize the small space I have to grow as much as possible. Any horizontal surface outside that gets any amount of sun is a candidate for a container. Using vertical space such as training potatoes to grow vines up instead of out is a possibility with certain plants. I’ll attempt hanging plants off the deck, and I’ll continue to use the lattice work near the ground as a trellis. I’m sure that not all of my experiments will work, but they’re worth a try. Growing food myself is its own reward.

So what’s growing and sprouting and blooming in YOUR garden? Any tips for utilizing space you’d like to share? Or do you have plenty of room to spread out?